Officials mum on Singleteary

January 20, 2013

State and local officials are tight-lipped on what they learned on a recent tour of the Singleteary Food Solutions facility in Wells.

"What is going on? Is this money going down the rat hole?" resident Russell Bathke asked the Wells council on Monday night.

"There's tax dollars involved and nobody has any answers or wants to be held accountable," he adds.

City Administrator Steve Bloom says owner Steve Singleteary took half a dozen people on a 30-minute tour on Jan. 11.

"There are intentions to open. I'm going to be very careful what I say. There is a lot of money involved," Bloom says.

Singleteary also reportedly sat down with officials for one hour to discuss status of the business.

Bloom says it's his understanding that state officials have given Singleteary until March 15 to either open the facility or start repaying a loan to the city's EDA.

"I felt he was sincere when he said he plans to open the business. He is an established businessman and I have every belief he will open," says Bloom.

A resolution passed by the Wells council last April extended loan payments to begin in December 2012.

Singleteary received a $500,000 loan from DEED and the city acted as a "loan sponsor."

That means the company would pay the EDA the full amount at an interest rate of 2.5 percent for 10 years until employment number goals set by the state are met. At that point, $100,000 would be forgiven.

Bloom says the city has not received a payment.

"We'll have to see what happens by March 15. He can request an extension. At that time we'll have to decide what to do," he says.

In addition, the Wells EDA gave the start-up venture $150,000 that does not have to be repaid and the county's EDA contributed another $100,000.

Singleteary isn't giving out any details of the meeting.

The Register's attempts to contact him by phone or e-mail have been unsuccessful.

Samantha DiMaggio of the state Department of Employment and Economic Development was among those who met with Singleteary.